1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coin receiving mechanism for use with pay telephones, vending machines, coin changing machines and other coin or token activated machines, and more particularly, to a coin receiving mechanism having a foreign objects release device for releasing foreign objects jammed in the coin receiving mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A major problem associated with coin receiving mechanisms used in pay telephones, vending machines, change machines and the like is their susceptibility to being intentionally jammed by a thief intent on stealing subsequently deposited coins. The thief stuffs paper, cloth, or other foreign objects into the coin deposit chute which blocks the coin acceptor/counter device associated with the coin receiving mechanisms. After setting his trap, the thief waits until one or more paying customers have deposited coins in the coin deposit chute blocked by the foreign objects. Since the deposited coins are blocked by the foreign objects, these coins cannot be retrieved by operating the coin release lever or tapping on the coin activated machine. After the paying customer leaves, the thief returns to complete the theft by attempting to fish out the coins stuck in the coin deposit chute with a wire, comb or other instrument. In fishing out the coins, the thief often will cause further jamming and/or damage to the coin receiving mechanism and the coin acceptor/counter device. Typically, the thief will leave the foreign objects in the coin receiving mechanism, resulting in an ongoing loss of sales from the machine and requiring repair personnel to make a service call to remove the blockage. Such illegal activity not only inconveniences and upsets the customer of the coin operated machine, but also results in substantial economic loss to the owners and operators of coin operated machines by way of lost sales and higher repair costs.
Several attempts have been made to overcome the above identified problem, but they have all met with limited success. U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,706 to Wollet teaches a mechanism with a metal plate which blocks the coin deposit slot on the coin activated machine if foreign objects are stuffed between the walls of the coin chute, and thereby prevents the additional foreign objects and/or coins from being deposited. However, the Wollet device does not provide any feature which would allow the customer to clear the blockage. With the Wollet device, once the coin chute is stuffed with foreign objects, a metal plate shuts the coin deposit slot on the coin activated machine, thereby blocking further access to the coin deposit chute and rendering the coin activated machine inoperative. Although later customers are prevented from losing their coins to thieves, sales are lost until service personnel make a service call to clear the machine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,090 to Ramseier discloses a coin receiving mechanism having separable coin guide walls which define a coin track having sections arranged in a zigzag form. While the Ramseier device purportedly has a feature to allow unblocking of the coin chute path, one of the walls, which is set at a steep angle to the vertical, does not move and thus it cannot "kick" debris out of the coin path. Thus, the Ramseier device can require at least several operations to clear paper jams.